It has been a crazy week. From a disastrous quarterfinal in Guwahati, thanks to the heavy rainfall in the region, to the semifinal being shifted to Kolkata for the same reason, it has been a whirlwind week in the east Indian zone of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Eager to witness the passion for the sport in the northeast, I reached Guwahati ahead of the semifinal, and headed to the scheduled Brazil training session on Monday evening. On reaching the training site, I was told the session had been cancelled and news broke that FIFA had shifted the match venue to Kolkata after deeming the Guwahati pitch unplayable.
It was perhaps the right decision, after both Ghana and Mali players struggled on the soggy pitch in the quarterfinal. But the weather had improved and the rains finally ceased, and it is not hard to suspect an England hand in the venue change, given the power wielded by the country’s FA.
Prior to reaching the Assamese city, I had taken a quick detour to Shillong, where the unbridled love for the game is evident. Everybody was talking about the Under-17 World Cup. At Shillong’s main stadium, the JN stadium, I met a senior spectator attending a college-level game, who told me India had done well to secure hosting rights for the World Cup. He spoke expertly about the players on the pitch and told me that he was happy to see more Indians taking the sport professionally now.
It’s a pity that the northeast did not get the semifinal they were so eagerly waiting for. Fans were expected to descend from the remotest areas of the seven states for the big game. The Guwahati officials tried everything it could, but not enough to convince FIFA officials that the ground would be ready―they even hovered a helicopter over the ground for 45 minutes to dry the pitch with its rotors, but to no avail.
It is not that the passion is any less in Kolkata―66,000 people turned up for the quarterfinal between Germany and Brazil, and over a lakh bought the Rs100 tickets for the semifinal that were sold in the 11th hour.
It was a logistical nightmare for the FIFA organising committee, but since the authorities and the stadium in Kolkata were ready to add one more high-profile game to its schedule.
For me, I had to cut short my Guwahati stay and return to Kolkata in time to catch both teams’ press conferences on Tuesday evening. The driver, who took me to the stadium from the airport, asked me if there was a match that evening because of the massive crowds outside the stadium.
Kolkata had responded well to the welcome change in venue, but the Highlanders will rue their missed opportunity.
